Heading into the weekend, nobody really knew what to expect as the NASCAR Cup Series was set to compete at Chicagoland Speedway for the first time in seven years. After Friday afternoon’s practice session around the 1.5-mile speedway in Joliet, IL, one thing seems perfectly clear: 23XI Racing is going to be tough to beat.
The team, led by Riley Herbst, the driver of the No. 35 Monster Energy Toyota, swept the top-two spots in single-lap practice speeds, and all four of the team’s cars ranked inside the top-eight of the session.
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Herbst’s fast lap, a 30.326-second (178.065 mph) lap time, came on his 41st of 43 laps in the hour-long practice session. Herbst was able to clock in ahead of his teammate Bubba Wallace, who is driving an Upper Deck/Space Jam car, honoring the 30th anniversary of the film’s release.
Ironically, Wallace, the driver of the No. 23 Toyota, timed in 0.023 seconds off the pace of Herbst’s fast lap.
Kyle Larson, the defending series champion, who is seeking his first win of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, was third-fastest, and he was followed on the speed chart by Denny Hamlin, the current series points leader.
Ty Gibbs, who has strung together a very consistent campaign this year, was fifth-fastest in the practice session.
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Corey Heim, who scored his first career NASCAR Cup Series win a couple of weeks ago at the San Diego Street Race, was the third-fastest 23XI Racing driver as he slotted in sixth on the single-lap averages.
Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick, Carson Hocevar, and Chris Buescher rounded out the top-10 drivers in the session.
eero 400 Practice Results
1. 35 – Riley Herbst
2. 23 – Bubba Wallace
3. 5 – Kyle Larson
4. 11 – Denny Hamlin
5. 54 – Ty Gibbs
6. 67 – Corey Heim
7. 2 – Austin Cindric
8. 45 – Tyler Reddick
9. 77 – Carson Hocevar
10. 17 – Chris Buescher
11. 9 – Chase Elliott
12. 6 – Brad Keselowski
13. 38 – Zane Smith
14. 19 – Chase Briscoe
15. 71 – Michael McDowell
16. 24 – William Byron
17. 20 – Christopher Bell
18. 16 – AJ Allmendinger
19. 60 – Ryan Preece
20. 41 – Cole Custer
21. 42 – John Hunter Nemechek
22. 12 – Ryan Blaney
23. 48 – Alex Bowman
24. 7 – Daniel Suarez
25. 88 – Connor Zilisch
26. 97 – Shane van Gisbergen
27. 34 – Todd Gilliland
28. 4 – Noah Gragson
29. 1 – Ross Chastain
30. 21 – Josh Berry
31. 3 – Austin Dillon
32. 10 – Ty Dillon
33. 51 – Cody Ware
34. 22 – Joey Logano
35. 43 – Erik Jones
36. 47 – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
37. 33 – Austin Hill
38. 44 – JJ Yeley
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/racing-america as Riley Herbst Paces NASCAR Cup Practice at Chicagoland Speedway.
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